UPDATE 5:40 p.m.: WCAX-TV is reporting the man has died.
The Occupy Burlington encampment remained roped off with police tape Thursday afternoon after a 35-year-old camper apparently shot himself in City Hall Park.
Burlington police said the man was in “grave” condition. Numerous occupiers told Seven Days they believed the man, who they know only as “Josh,” was dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Earlier in the day, police were seen removing a body from one of the tents.
Deputy Chief Andi Higbee said police received a 911 call around 2 p.m. reporting gun shots in the park. Higbee said the victim was in “grave” condition and “receiving treatment at the hospital.” Police have recovered a weapon and identified the victim but did not release his name pending notification of his family.
“We do not have any reason to believe the public is at risk,” Higbee said, adding that the shooting happened “inside or nearby one of the tents.”
By late afternoon, the future of the three-week-old Occupy Burlington encampment appeared in doubt. Mayor Bob Kiss planned to meet with key deputies about the incident this afternoon. Organizers of the movement huddled in the park to mourn and plot next steps.
Asked by a reporter if the shooting gives him pause about the future of the occupation, Higbee replied, “Yeah, I think that’s a fair statement.” (Video of Higbee’s statement below the break).
Asked if he thinks it should be shut down, Higbee replied, “I don’t think I’m at a point where I could characterize that. It certainly gives us cause for concern. Our responsibility is to keep the public safe and discharge of a firearm in a public place like this, you know, it gives me pause.”
Occupier Todd Lacroix (pictured) said he heard the victim was a “mentally disturbed man, who had some drug issues, who had a gun.”
“Waterbury got flooded out, the state funding for mentally ill is really breaking down and we here in the park have been a flame for the moths of people who are downtrodden,” Lacroix said. “We’re doing our best to deal with them and help them but we’re not really equipped to deal with that type of people. That’s why we have mental institutes for that type of people. But currently, ours is flooded out and the state doesn’t really know what to do with them. So they’re ending up here.
“So if the state could help us find a way to deal with this thing that they’re not doing too well at dealing with, that would be really cool,” Lacroix added.
Lacroix, who wore a Vermont Independent Media Center badge around his neck, said he is “very worried” about how the Occupy movement will be perceived once word of the shooting gets out.
“I don’t feel some of the media has been very fair to us and it would be nice if they spent a little more time on the issues of why we’re here than the homelessness that we’re dealing with,” he said, as a beeping police vehicle backed into the crime scene.
Another occupier, Hayley Mason of Burlington (pictured), said she knows the apparent suicide victim as “Josh” and said he arrived weeks ago.
“We’ve pretty much been on a first-name basis in the camp,” she said, adding that she heard last night was his birthday. “He’s been a part of this community. And this community has really set itself up to be a space where people that are isolated from different parts of society can fit in here. We’ve welcomed with open arms all sorts of people. So that necessarily attracts people who don’t fit in.
“As far as the encampment, I don’t know if we’ll stay here or not, but the movement’s going to continue, if not for Josh, the movement will continue because this is really a tragedy. It’s really very sad to have this happen. We’ve all become very close in this community. But by being so open to all sorts of people, this sort of thing just comes along with it. And it’s really too bad that he hadn’t been taken care of the way that he needed to be.”
Observing the crime scene, Mayor Bob Kiss said, “We have people making their way in difficult situations around the city and around the country. That’s a fact. And so this might end up being a safer place than others. Certainly everyone in this group, I would guess, is part of the 99 percent.”
Occupy Burlington organizers huddled and held hands in a circle (pictured below), talking and planning their next steps. Jonathan Leavitt, an organizer of the movement, declined to discuss the shooting “out of respect,” he said.
This article appears in Nov 9-15, 2011.
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Hey occupy people, why do you have guns in city hall park? Mayor Bob, shut this fiasco down before it really gets out of control.
I like that a lot. Awesome.
OCCUPY BURLINGTON – STATEMENT ON LOSS OF JOSHToday, November 10th at 2pm, Josh, a valued member of Occupy Burlington and the houseless community, took his own life at the encampment. We want to take this moment to offer our thoughts and condolences to Josh’s family, and to the members of the Occupy community who got to know Josh over the last two weeks.The thoughts and prayers of everyone in the encampment are with his friends and family. We appreciate the support we have received from the Burlington community, the country, and the world. We ask for everyone’s continued support and solidarity as we deal with this tragedy.From the first day of the encampment, we have welcomed all members of the community by providing anyone in need with food, shelter, and social support. Despite our best efforts to provide care and support to all members of the community, occupations are not equipped with the infrastructure and resources needed to care for the most vulnerable members of our community. The lack of resources to care for those in need was brought to the attention of Burlington city leaders. Unfortunately, our plea for assistance was not heeded in time to help Josh.This tragedy draws attention to the gross inequalities within our system. We mourn the loss of a great friend tonight, while discovering an ever-deeper resolve to stand with our most vulnerable citizens. The failure to provide citizens with adequate and accessible physical and mental healthcare is one of the many issues this movement is fighting against.Again, our thoughts and prayers are with everyone reeling from this loss and we deeply appreciate everyone who has offered support, compassion, and solidarity. It is our hope that this tragedy will serve as a rallying cry for occupations around the country to continue the fight for system change.In Solidarity,Occupy Burlington
The police in Burlington are trying to use this vet’s suicide as a reason to stop the encampment. The whole situation is a microcosm of why people are there in the first place; that we live in the richest country in the world which does not take care of its veterans, its homeless or its mentally ill. This man got likely got more support from the occupiers than he has from the rest of society. Now the police are trying to use his death as a reason to shut down the occupiers when it is the State that is responsible for misery enough to drive more than 18 vets a day to commit suicide. Stop going after the messengers and deal with the real problems of the 1% hollowing out the whole country in the endo-colonization project.
This is so sad and why I have started to not enjoy the place I grew up in. I am not talking about the homeless there are so many people that think they are better then everyone else, this town is turning very arrogant.
Thoughts go out to this man’s family. The BFP reports that he was a veteran. It’s crushing to think about how much pain he must have felt in his life to resort to this.
Clear the park. Now.1. Whatever point the occupiers wanted to make, has been made (although coherence and message has not exactly been a hallmark of the occupiers).2. From Day 1, camping out in City Hall park has been illegal. Mayor Kiss “looked the other way” because he’s politically sympathetic to the unwashed occupiers. Not a valid thing.3. There is absolutely, positively, no question that if the occupiers were a conservative group, the law against camping in the park would have been enforced on Day 1. Not enforcing the ban on encampment is totally results-oriented.4. We have seen that Kiss has had to warn the occupiers against noise, drugs, and public defacation.5. It’s not the occupiers’ park. It’s mine. And everyone’s.6. And now we have guns and shootings in the Park?Clear the Park. Now.
I sent this to Mayor Kiss. I urge others to contact him as well (mayor@ci.burlington.vt.us). STAY STRONG OCCUPIERS!Mayor Kiss:I am a resident of East Montpelier but travel to Burlington and spend my money there frequently. I am also involved in the Occupy movement, mainly here in Montpelier, but have attended some of the rallies and assemblies in Burlington.Please do not use this tragic suicide at the Occupation in City Hall park to clear out the park! There is no convincing argument that somehow people camping out was responsible for this happening. It would be doing a disservice to the dead for you to use this opportunity to get rid of this “inconvenient” protest. Nothing can prevent people from killing themselves (over 30,000 a year). Except maybe a better world to live in.I urge you to mourn along with the Occupiers and the rest of the city and state. I urge you to attend the General Assemblies and rallies and talk about how sad you are this happened. But please, here is your chance to leave office having done one last thing that is just and right and true and perhaps salvage some of your tarnished (justly or not) reputation. Defend the right of the Occupy movement to stay at the park! If you take this principled stand, you will always be remembered as having exercised true leadership.
I sent this to Mayor Kiss. I urge others to contact him as well (mayor@ci.burlington.vt.us). STAY STRONG OCCUPIERS!
Mayor Kiss:
I am a resident of East Montpelier but travel to Burlington and spend my money there frequently. I am also involved in the Occupy movement, mainly here in Montpelier, but have attended some of the rallies and assemblies in Burlington.
Please do not use this tragic suicide at the Occupation in City Hall park to clear out the park! There is no convincing argument that somehow people camping out was responsible for this happening. It would be doing a disservice to the dead for you to use this opportunity to get rid of this "inconvenient" protest.
Nothing can prevent people from killing themselves (over 30,000 a year). Except maybe a better world to live in.
I urge you to mourn along with the Occupiers and the rest of the city and state. I urge you to attend the General Assemblies and rallies and talk about how sad you are this happened. But please, here is your chance to leave office having done one last thing that is just and right and true and perhaps salvage some of your tarnished (justly or not) reputation. Defend the right of the Occupy movement to stay at the park! If you take this principled stand, you will always be remembered as having exercised true leadership.
WCAX TV reporting (quoting the Deputy Police Chief) that the man has died.